the bill says starfucker at mississippi studios

Starfucker… ahem, Pyramiddd is having an identity crisis. Trying to shed old skin, the original Starfucker MySpace page was finally deleted (well, the URL changed) only to be replaced in Pyramiddd’s Top 8 Friend Space by this Starfucker MySpace.

And Pyramiddd is NOT on tour (but Starfucker is) nor do they have any music streaming on their MySpace… all of those pertinent details are found on the new Starfucker page.

And coming to Mississippi Studios on Tuesday, May 11th is Starfucker, who are currently on a West Coast tour–playing two homecoming shows, one early, all ages gig at 6:30 PM with Wampire and XDS and a second late show at 9:30 PM with Strength, XDS, and DJ Copy that is 21+.

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from a one man production to full bonobo live band

English trip-hop producer Simon Green makes beat-driven, downtempo tunes in the vein of Thievery Corporation under the moniker Bonobo. Jazzy and chilled, his music flows between many different genres, taking the snippets he sees fit, while often enlisting a seductive female voice to make his cuts ever so soulful and sexy.

Touring in support of Black Sands, which was released in late March, Bonobo visits the Wonder Ballroom on Saturday, April 24th as part of the Soul’d Out Music Festival, sharing the stage with experimental-electro shoegazers Yppah from Houston and Seattle’s Anomie Bell.

Bonobo snagged the irresistably cool Andreya Triana to stand as his “cohesive voice throughout the record” helping him create an identity across an album that brings together strings and woodwinds on tracks that run from “spiritual, psychedelic Jazz” to “wonky, synthetic Hip-Hop,” as Green describes it. But a cohesion exists because like all Bonobo-productions, it was made by one man, in one room, with Simon Green’s signature all over it.

Picking up where he left off with previous recordings, Bonobo forced himself outside of this comfort zone “pushing slightly off kilter electronica”...

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charlotte gainsbourg brings beck-penned tunes to portland

She has been making noise across the pond since the release of her first album in 1986. Now on her third record, IRM, she got some help from a pivotal co-producer and writer, Beck.

Born in London and raised in Paris, Charlotte Gainsbourg has been a force in film and French pop music over the years but the support of her newest collaborator has propelled her into the international limelight. Providing some backing instruments and vocals, Beck has stamped Gainsbourg’s album with his twisting signature as the album works from poppy and sweet, full of sleepy sunshine to heavily dramatic, wrapped in confusion, all the while flavored with tidbits of dreamy French. The first single “Heaven Can Wait,” a duet with Beck, belongs on the thump-y edition of Sea Change while other songs transform from the robotic “IRM” to an Air-inspired “Le Chat du Café des Artistes” to raw blues on “Trick Pony.”

The title for Gainsbourg’s latest release is French for MRI, inspired by an experience in 2007 when she was rushed to a Paris hospital...

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jónsi solo : surreal set design at the roseland

Enlisting the help of 59 Productions, Jónsi, the ethereal lead singer of Sigur Rós, brings the most fantastical and theatrical stage show that Portland will see all year–at least for a spectral rock concert that is.

Stepping out solo for the first time after more than 15 years surrounded by his Icelandic band mates, Jón Þór Birgisson (Jónsi) chose a company that designs sets for the likes of the Metropolitan Opera Company and the English National Opera to help realize his vision.

Part museum exhibit, part interactive rock showcase, this concert is the live stage experience for Jónsi’s debut release Go–an experience that intertwines film, theatrical performance, an art installation, animation, and a live gig to reflect the epic, cinematic quality of Jónsi’s music.

The construction combines a physical set based on a burnt down taxidermist shop with video content projected across the stage. But the content is truly woven into the fabric of the show rather than just televised on a video screen as images and lights appear inside windows and museum-like cases as well as on Jónsi himself.

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Read the rest and see videos of Jónsi's stage production on OMN.

home from sxsw : quasi + explode into colors at the doug fir

The showcases are over, the street corners are considerably less crowded, and the bands are on their way back home from SXSW. Using the time on the road before and after the jaunt to Austin, most bands make a few stops along the way. On Saturday, March 27th, our indie rock darlings return to Portland for their homecoming showcase… at least that was the plan.

Both trios, Quasi and Explode Into Colors, played official SXSW showcases on a tour that saw them hit 15+ cities planned around their time in Austin. With two decades of gusto behind them, NW indie-staple Quasi showed their “rebellious, anti-corporate, loud rock’n'roll, peppered with pop harmonies, shredding guitar solos, hum-able bass lines and long drum fills” (according to drummer Janet Weiss in an interview with Spinner before SXSW) to a crowd at the Gibson Guitar Showroom that was record by Seattle’s KEXP and is now streaming on NPR.

OMN spoke to the bombastic rhythm makers from EIC just after their gigs at SXSW and a trip into Monterrey, Mexico for the MtyMx Fest. But then Explode Into Colors blew a tranny somewhere in Oklahoma and got stuck in San Antonio…

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Read the rest on OMN along with tour notes from EIC.

free, sunday gig: the pack a.d. + sex life at rontoms

Put two loud girls in a small space like Rontoms and let ‘er rip.

A female Black Keys pulsing with crude bluesy energy and endlessly crashing cymbals, drummer Maya Miller puts Meg White to shame while singer, guitarist Becky Black drawls and hauls with the best male garage rockers.

The blues stompin’, rhythm rockin’ Vancouver-duo The Pack A.D. comes to Portland on Sunday, March 7th rocking a free gig at Rontoms alongside dance-makers Sex Life and a disco DJ set from Maxx Bass at 9 PM.

There’s no reason to spar with words here, just one quick listen and you’ll understand. (Download their single “Crazy” here.)

Three guys, a girl, and percussionary dance vibes...

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van go lion make electropop debut at ash st.

When winter gets drizzly and cold, it's nice to bounce around inside to sunny pop.

Van Go Lion hare just the right blend of sugary sweetness coating their smooth electropop, and they're making their live premier at Ash St. Saloon on Saturday, February 27th with loop-ninja Tony Smiley and indie sentiments from Just Lions.

Like all matches made in heaven, singer Amy Paige met keys whiz Josh Loerzel on Craigslist. A love of Prince, Tears for Fears, Hall & Oates, Eurythmics, early Madonna, and some Boyz II Men made this pair swoon together. Hunched over their MIDI boards and Macbooks, they got serious about pop music and wanna bring some R-E-S-P-E-C-T to the genre with their self-titled debut of “retro-electropop.”

Through floating, down tempo ballads, punchy beats, and humming synths, Van Go Lion is a happy-go-lucky dance party for growing up and making mistakes.

Show starts at 9:30 PM, $5.

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Read this and more on The Deli Portland.

two melodious nights with the magnetic fields at the aladdin

The Magnetic Fields tricks are straightforward and sweet. No impressive illusions or smoke and mirrors, just a good ole’ gotcha nose routine.

With each release, chief singer/songwriter Stephin Merritt attempts something new but always delivers candid pop tunes and romantic ballads, although his famously synthy respites have been neglected as the band completed their “no-synth trilogy” with the release of this year’s Realism.

Known for his distinctive bass voice and endearing creative eccentricities, the latest album avoids electric guitar...

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